‘PetroCaribe
not a substitute for Caricom’
The
Trinidad Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
09 10 06
Jamaican
Foreign Affairs Minister Anthony Hylton said yesterday
that PetroCaribe was only a short term solution
to the region’s energy needs.
Hylton
was speaking at a conference on Energy and the Competitiveness
of the Caribbean at the Trinidad Hilton.
“The
region has been helped to relieve the foreign exchange
burden caused by price increases caused by long-term
financing arrangements,” he said.
“While
PetroCaribe finance mechanisms allow us breathing
space to allow the development of sustainable energy...it
is not a substitute for regional policy and strategy.”
The
region, he added, needs to develop a long-term strategy.
“The
Caricom Single Market, Caricom envisioned the development
of long-term policies and strategies in areas critical
to our development,” he said. “Long-term
price stability must be the objective of a regional
energy policy.”
PetroCaribe
is the brainchild of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.
The agreement gives Caribbean governments special,
long-term financing to pay for oil from Venezuela’s
state-owned oil company Pdvsa.
Jamaica
and other Caricom countries have already accessed
the arrangement.
The
conference, which has brought together representatives
of governments and private sector from around the
region and the US, is being supported by US Department
of Energy which also has representatives at the
event.
Although
more than one speaker mentioned PetroCaribe, neither
Pdvsa nor the Venezuela Ministry of Energy was represented
on any of the panels at the conference.
Other
panelists during the session spoke mainly about
the need to improve energy efficiency and develop
renewable energy, like solar and wind power.
The
Trinidad Guardian
Friday 8th September, 2006
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